YP Letters: Seek trade deals now to strengthen our hand for EU talks

I REFER to the article (The Yorkshire Post, March 17) by Nick Clegg regarding Brexit.

The UK has democratically voted to leave the EU. It is therefore critical that we present a united front to the EU prior on into negotiation over terms. A principal tenet of any negotiation is the requirement for careful planning. It would be foolish to release details in advance to the other party as indeed it would be to reveal the areas you are prepared to concede.

Mr Clegg is attempting to shift the debate on to matters such as immigration and job losses. These are areas up for negotiation between the UK government and the EU. He expresses his dismay over the promises made by Brexiteers prior to the referendum but he needs to accept there was political posturing on both sides of the debate with the leavers claiming massive job losses, businesses moving overseas and a deep recession. The reverse has happened of course, with our economy gaining strength ahead of Europe, new jobs and growth and more investment planned in the UK from overseas.

The World Bank, in fact, has named the UK and the USA in the top 10 countries worldwide as among the easiest to do business with. Germany, France, Italy, Spain and almost of the EU members do not appear in the top 10. This is because they are mired in bureaucracy, and in the case of Greece Spain and Italy their economies are in dire straits. Does the UK honestly wish to be part of a failed experiment?

The best position for the UK would be to strike as many trade deals as possible around the world before we sit down at the EU negotiating table. In this way, we will be negotiating from a position of strength. It would be irresponsible to follow Mr Clegg’s suggested diversionary route as it would weaken and fragment our negotiating position. We have voted for Brexit; let us now negotiate from a position of strength and put an end to talking Britain down.

From: Thomas W Jefferson, Batty Lane, Howden, Goole.

NICK Clegg is still calling for a referendum on the final Brexit terms and Tony Blair has said we can change our mind about leaving the EU, a view apparently shared by the lawyer who drafted Article 50. Some questions need answering.

If Mr Blair believes we can change our minds about Brexit, what is the mechanism by which that could be achieved? The half-baked views of former front-line politicians are not helpful.